Say the name of Gustav Holst (1874–1934) and the work that comes to mind is, almost undoubtedly, The Planets. And deservedly so: composed between 1914 and 1917, it's a sumptuous, always captivating cosmic masterpiece.
But there is more to this composer, who called upon an eclectic range of influences including English folk music, the contemporary European landscape of Stravinsky and Debussy, and even Hindu spiritualism. Not for nothing did Holst feature strongly in our list of the greatest British composers of all time.
The Planets
Composed during World War I, Holst’s spectacular orchestral work The Planets comprises seven movements, each one a depiction of a different planet in the solar system (our home planet, and the as-yet-undiscovered Pluto, miss out). We begin with the alarming fury of ‘Mars, the Bringer of War’ and end with the subtle, faintly dissonant colours of ‘Neptune, the Mystic’.
Via each of these stops on our journey through the solar system, The Planets is a masterful piece of scene painting. A truly cosmic journey, it shows Holst as one of the century's great orchestrators alongside the likes of Strauss and Ravel.
You can hear The Planets at the 2024 BBC Proms. It's the highlight of Prom 46 on Sunday 25 August, which also includes works by Sibelius and Lara Poe.
Recommended recording: London Philharmonic Orchestra/Adrian Boult EMI 627 8982
Hymn of Jesus
This setting for double choir and orchestra of a hymn supposedly sung by Christ and his disciples at the Last Supper is both ecstatic and other-worldly.
Recommended recording: BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus/Adrian Boult Decca 470 1912
Seven Robert Bridges Part-Songs
Holst wrote several works for his pupils, but few are more hauntingly beautiful than these settings of Robert Bridges poems for sopranos and strings.
Recommended recording: Holst Singers & Orchestra/Hilary Davan Wetton Helios CDH 55170
Egdon Heath
After the acclaim of The Planets, Holst was drawn to composing more austere works. Of those, Egdon Heath - an evocation of the sparse, fictional Dorset heathland at the heart of Thomas Hardy's fictional world - is his bleakest.
Bleak it may be, but Holst was proud of this piece, calling it his most perfectly realised composition. And proud he's right to be - it's a stunning piece of orchestral scene painting, and one of the 20th century's great tone poems.
Recommended recording: Royal Scottish National Orchestra/David Lloyd-Jones Naxos 8.553696
St Paul's Suite
This vivacious orchestral piece was composed for the string orchestra of London's St. Paul's Girls' School, where Holst served as director of music. Its four movements, which include a jig, an ostinato, and an intermezzo, convey a passion for English folk music.
The Wandering Scholar
Holst's sense of humour rarely featured in his music, but surfaces here in this sure-footed chamber opera concerning a young wife’s spring-time rendezvous with a priest.
Recommended recording: Norma Burrowes, Michael Langdon, Robert Tear; English Opera Group/Steuart Bedford EMI 968 9292
